Alumni Gazette

Sorority Rallies for Cancer Fighter Who Needs a Donor

INSPIRATION SISTER: Wincheng Lin ’02, who helped organize an on-campus bone marrow drive with her sorority, was diagnosed with leukemia this year.

Nearly 10 years ago, Wincheng Lin ’02 found out that a friend had been diagnosed with leukemia. The then freshman started a drive to encourage people to register as potential bone marrow donors.

For help, she turned to her sisters in Sigma Psi Zeta, a multicultural Asian-interest sorority.

After Lin graduated, the sorority continued to host the annual drive at the University, raising awareness and encouraging minorities to register as donors.

Last June, Lin was diagnosed with a rare type of leukemia, and the drive she helped create in 1998 became a chance to find a donor for her.

Lin, who was living and working in New York City, returned to Rochester for treatment and to spend time with her family in nearby Penfield. Doctors say a bone marrow transplant is her best option for beating her cancer.

And, once again, the sisters of Sigma Psi Zeta rallied to help a friend.

“You never really feel the impact until it hits you close to home,” says Lydia Chiu ’07, who has been with the sorority for the past four years. Chiu had been reluctant to register as a donor until this year.

She and other sisters, with the help of a variety of student groups, held the annual drive in September on the River Campus, registering about 100 people as possible donors. Representatives from the National Marrow Donor Program collected samples and answered questions.

Meanwhile, sorority sisters organized efforts across the country, setting up drives in San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., New York, and other locations.

Jeanette Moy ’02, Lin’s friend and sorority sister, says the goal was to make the drive’s mission resonate nationwide. “The outreach that everyone has done is phenomenal,” says Moy, who organized the efforts in Washington, D.C. “People have really responded positively.”

Bertha Cheng ’03, who organized the group at Stanford University and who served as an advisor to sororities in Nebraska and Kansas, says she was excited to see people rally for Lin’s recovery. She says the drives were a way to help—rather than sitting back and waiting for a miracle.

“You want to do the most you can for your friends, and we realized this was our vehicle to mobilize people,” Cheng says. “We’ve been really impressed. The girls are really independent and are coming up with good ideas. It’s really getting out.”

—Enid Arbelo